Christa and Lawrence with Metro Lighting's rooftop solar array, which completely powers our facility!
Lawrence Grown Founder, Lead Designer
Metro Lighting was founded in 1993 by Lawrence Grown to fulfill a need for architectural lighting–fixtures designed to compliment unique architectural environments. Lawrence earned his degree in 1990 from the acclaimed architecture program at the University of Cincinnati. His passions are for product development, sustainable design, and organic architecture. He is the founder/Executive Director of the West Berkeley Design Loop, and founder of Commotion West Berkeley. Lawrence previously served on boards for many years at his three daughters' schools. In 2018 Lawrence designed and produced a large scale environmental art project for Burning Man: chilopod.life which is his biggest lighting "fixture" to date, and brought It back to Burning Man In 2022.
Christa Rybczynski Partner, Lead Designer, Operations
Also educated as an architect at the University of Cincinnati, Christa has enjoyed creating new lighting designs and working with designers and homeowners at Metro Lighting since 1994. Her favorite projects have been working with designers to bring their custom designs to fruition in restaurants, creating unforgettable dining experiences throughout the SF Bay area. In addition to being a designer, she wears many hats–bookkeeper, operations manager, and IT specialist. Whether it’s managing inventory, paying bills, or networking the computers, Christa brings her puzzle-solving skills to keep Metro Lighting running smoothly.
Boun Lead Fixture Fabricator
As part of Metro Lighting’s production team since 2007, Boun has over 25 years of metal fabrication, finishing, and lighting fixture production experience. A true master craftsman, Boun is our problem solver for anything metal or electrical. He is fastidious at keeping Metro Lighting's fixture production on schedule, even when he occasionally travels to visit his family in Laos. Boun is best known for his can-do attitude, as his answer to almost any custom fabrication question is: “No problem!”
Alex Glass Blower
Alex is an Oakland based glass artist who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000 with a Bachelors Degree in Glass Sculpture. Our Mirage, Dune, Quartz, and Oasis lines are crafted by Alex and his team, who are committed to blowing pieces that are consistently beautiful and of the highest quality. In addition to his lighting work, Alex is also a prolific artist who has exhibited nationwide in several galleries including Colorado Springs Museum, Colorado Springs, CO; Adam Whitney Gallery, Omaha, NE; Pismo Gallery, Denver, CO; San Francisco Design Center at the A. Rudin Showroom
Carl Glass Blower (retired 2025)
Carl Radke worked in the highly specialized medium of Lustre Art Glass for over 40 years before retiring in 2025, and we have a small collection of Carl's gorgeous pieces available in our showroom. Originated by Tiffany in 1881, and popularized in the early 1900's, Lustre Art Glass had fallen out of favor by 1925. But in the early 1970's, Carl was part of a small movement of artisans who mastered this sophisticated art form. The glass blower must be chemist as well as craftsman, as the raw glass can only be maintained in the furnace for a short period of time before the color, quality and texture of the batch begins to degenerate. Carl was one of a handful of glass artists in the United States who continued this traditional glass technique into the new millennium.
Bob Glass Fusing Artist
Bob creates custom masterpieces in fused and slumped glass in a variety of shapes and designs. This highly flexible medium allows us to design pieces custom fit for each project. Color, pattern, and transparency are manipulated to create unique works in kiln-formed glass to suit the style, palette, and scale of each location. Also a stained glass artist, Bob's incredible creations are the result of time-honored traditional craftsmanship and a fusion of his own design vision with historical and contemporary trends. His stained glass windows are featured in homes and churches across the country and around the world.